The Body of Christ Pt.1

In this opening session the pastor announces a shift from preaching to a multi‑week Bible study on the biblical metaphor of the Body of Christ. He begins by reading scattered verses from 1 Corinthians 12, emphasizing that every believer has spiritual gifts and that all are united by the Holy Spirit into one body, regardless of race, status, or background. He then surveys the seven biblical metaphors for the church—bride, vineyard, flock, kingdom, family, building, and finally the body—showing how the latter is unique to the New Testament and central to Christian identity. The speaker stresses that true unity, diversity, and mutuality are the defining characteristics of the Body of Christ. He warns against divisions caused by denominationalism, hierarchy, or personal ambition, arguing that the church’s only head is Jesus and that every member’s gifts are essential for the body’s health. He calls the congregation to active participation, humility, love, and the exercise of their spiritual gifts so that the church can demonstrate a unified, vibrant witness to the world.

What is Houston's First Baptist Church?

Houston's First Baptist Church is a relevant biblical community where we gather our hearts, grow our souls and give our lives as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This podcast provides weekly messages from Pastor Gregg Matte and others. Visit us at HoustonsFirst.org to learn more about HFBC, and visit us in person the next time you're in Houston!

I'm not going to preach this morning or for the next several Sunday mornings. We're going to do something a bit different, and we're going to have a Bible study together. You know that I'll probably be preaching before it's over. I don't really know what the difference is in teaching and preaching, except I suppose you yell a lot more when you preach. I have a friend in California named Manuel Scott. He's black as the ace of spades. He's as brilliant as Solomon, and he stands about four feet nine. I think he's the greatest living black preacher in the world today, and that just about includes all of them for that matter. And somebody asked him, he preaches like a house that's burning up. And somebody asked him why he preaches so hard. He said, well, when your mortar's thin, you have to sling it extra hard to make it stick. Well, I don't know if the mortar will be any thicker, though perhaps it will. I might be slinging it a little less hard the next few Sunday mornings. And we're going to go into a study of the body of Jesus Christ, the church, the redeemed, the saints of God, the body of Christ. And I want you, and if I had the power over you to command you to do anything, it would be this. Whether you do anything else or not that I tell you to do or ask you to do this year, don't miss and bring all of the church members with you. This is a must for all of us the next several Sunday mornings. Now, there will be tapes made available, and as usual, they will be available through you through order through the church. Or if you wish, you can take notes. But we're going to have a very serious Bible study, and I want you to open your hearts and your brains and to the best of your ability, do all that you can to get this down in your mind and down in your heart and in your soul. So, I would like to ask you to turn for a moment to the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, and just leave your Bibles open there, though we shall be skipping around a good deal. 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, and I want to read some scattered verses. Now, that's just before 2 Corinthians, and one of your Methodist friends there beside you will know where it is, and you can ask them. 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, Let's look at four or five scattered verses, beginning with the first verse. 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, verse number 1. Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, every believer has at least one spiritual gift, and most have more. I would not have you ignorant. I don't want you to be uninformed. I want you to understand this. Verse 4. Now, there are diversities of gifts. There are different kinds of gifts. But the same spirit. Verse 13. For by one spirit, that's capital S, the Holy Spirit, are we, believers, all baptized, not through water, baptized by the Spirit into one body. Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond slaves, as they, some of them were in the early church, or whether we be free. We have been all, every one of us, made to drink into one spirit. Verse 12. For as the body, the physical body, is one, and as many members, eyes, feet, nose, so forth, the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Or so is it as a believer to be a part of the body of Jesus Christ, the church, the fellowship. Verse 27. Now ye are the body of Christ, you Christians, and members in particular. Verse 26. And when one member, whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now let's read again. Verse 27. Now are ye the body of Christ, and members in particular. There's been a good deal of discussion in recent years as to the body of Jesus Christ. Our world is suffering from a rebellion against authority, and any kind of structure, anything that is like it has been for a while, is under attack and so the church as it unfortunately often does rather than creating an initial movement into society reacts to society and so now anything that refers to denominationalism or timetables or structures or authoritarianism or hierarchy anything that is segmented and documented and structured is under rebellion and under attack so consequently in the in the church there has been a a kickback and people are going the other direction now to total a a total concept of of anything that is structured and planned and absolute freedom is the thing now in this kind of atmosphere it is unfortunate that many people who are discussing the body of christ and are saying to us that because we're all one and indeed we are all one in jesus christ therefore we want to go to the opposite direction and all that our religion is supposed to be is to gather in homes and sit around on the floor and have bible studies and love each other well i think it's good to gather in homes and sit on the floor and study the bible and love each other i think going to church whether it's a a service like this or a bible study at a home ought to be one session of loving the lord and loving his word but a lot of things have given have been given birth to because of a real lack of misunderstanding of what the body is as has been my custom for several years now i always go to make two or three hospital calls early on sunday morning sometimes that's why you see me coming in late and between about 7 30 and 9 30 or 10 it it kind of sets the person's day in order and certainly it helps mine i visited a lady this morning and i told her i was going to start a series on the body of christ and uh she said the body of christ and then she understood and before i had a chance to answer knew that i was talking about not the physical body of jesus christ but ourselves as a body now the bible teaches us that all believers in jesus christ are the church the word church ecclesia is used 119 times in the bible 90 of the time it refers to quote the church uh a symbol this part of the church that part of the church as we are about 10 percent of the time it means the church worldwide in the same way one of the metaphors that the scriptures use to describe all believers in christ collectively is the metaphor of the the body and we are a part of the body individually and collectively so i do not mean the physical body of christ but the expression body of christ is a metaphor that the scriptures use to suggest to us all believers being united to jesus christ the head and all of us as being his body and one of the many reasons that there are so many denominations and unfortunately that many denominations have a unity which exists around social action or some theological premise other than jesus christ is that there is a failure to comprehend the true nature of the relationship of jesus to the believer and you and i can never understand who we are and what we are and what is our ministry and relationship to the lord jesus and to each other until we come to an understanding of the nature of the teaching of us as a body of believers in the context of being the body of jesus christ many denominations have actually become herationist and there is no central force no centrality that fuses and blends and makes all of us one our unity is not in our cooperative program of financial giving or it's not all that we agree on some doctrine or not that we all happen to go to the same building to sit down on sunday morning our unity is in jesus christ he is the head and as a body cannot exist apart from a head nor a head exists apart from a body so all believers are a part of the body of jesus christ and we need to understand that there are some concepts that the bible teaches us to help us to be able to understand what is our our position in jesus christ as a part of the body when you look in the bible you find that there are seven basic metaphors used for the church and i am referring not just to our church or second baptist church or talloward or first presbyterian church but to all churches everywhere all believers who are in or out of a local assembly who are united by faith to jesus christ in the old testament you find that there are three primary ones and you would do well to write these down there are seven metaphors three of them are primarily found in the old testament and they are the same relationship that jesus christ used to explain his relationship to israel and they god's chosen people and he uses these metaphors to explain his relationship to his people today the church in the old testament he refers to them first of all to israel as his bride now jesus talks to us about being the bride of christ this is not a new teaching it's a very old one jesus refers to israel as his bride in the old testament hosea says that israel god looked upon her as a maiden and sought her and engaged himself to her and made her his own he looked upon her and betrothed her to himself and made a covenant with israel in the old testament now when god engaged himself to her and said israel you are my bride immediately he began having problems with her again hosea says that she went a whoring after other gods and was responsible of spiritual adultery indeed hosea called israel an unfaithful wife now another expression that jesus uses that the bible uses to refer the relationship of god to his bride his people israel in the old testament is as a vineyard as a vineyard the israelites are called the vineyard of god the bible says he planted the vineyard in a fertile hill he removed them and made them a fertile hill a picture of god calling his people out of israel out of egypt and planting them where she became a spreading and powerful fruitful vine and god intended that she bring forth righteousness but isaiah says that the that the result of the spreading of the vine transplanted in israel was that she grew wild grapes and israel isaiah said grew grapes of unrighteousness sin and unholiness and unholiness and oppression and sin then god says that not only did he choose a bride in israel and that he chose to plant a vine in israel but also that he shepherded a flock in israel and so god's people in the old testament israel is called a flock and he is the shepherd the bible says that he led joseph like a flock and isaiah adds that he lifted them up and carried them as young lambs as to the babylonian captivity he gathered them together as lambs in his arms and carried them gently and led them as though they were with young so we find in the old testament that god chose a bride that he planted a vineyard that he planted a vineyard and that he shepherded a flock now when you come to the new testament you find jesus christ boldly applying these very same metaphors to the church to his new people he says first of all that we are his bride and peter makes it very clear that we are to be a chaste bride that we are a pure bride a holy bride and jesus prays in mark that he would present us a pure and chaste bride unto himself unpainted pure unspotted from the world the bible says that we our god has given us the arabom the greek word meaning literally engagement ring of the spirit so when the believer is saved in the spirit of god does the work of regeneration in his life the holy spirit is the down payment he is a part of the finished product he is a touch of the real thing his guarantee his engagement ring is the holy spirit that's why i know i'm going to be married to jesus christ because i have in my heart an engagement ring that he gave me, he who is the great baptizer with the Holy Ghost, which is the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. Even the Bible says when it's all over in the New Jerusalem, we're going to go to a great supper. And what kind of a supper will it be when the final presentation of the bride is made to the bridegroom, Jesus Christ? A marriage supper. Then the Bible uses the same metaphor. Israel was not only God's bride, and in the New Testament, the church is his bride. And then there was the vineyard, and also we are the vine of the vineyard. And as Israel was the groom, the bride who was married to the groom, so we are the branches that are engrafted into the vine. And so Jesus continues to use the simile to experience, to explain our relationship to him. He tells us in the parable of the vineyard that he came and found a man who was unfaithful. And because he was unfaithful, God cut him off. Jesus, when he came and found the vine that was not bearing fruit, said, cursed be you, and it withered and died. Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. And unless you are engrafted in me, unless you are cemented into oneness with me, you cannot bear fruit. You cannot abide. And he says, the life is in the bride. The life is in the vine. And the branches engrafted into the vine are cut off. They're destroyed. They're good for nothing but to be bundled up and thrown away and burned unless they abide in the vine. They wither and die. Then he comes and says that also as Israel was the flock of God in the Old Testament, so is the church, the flock of God in the New Testament. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd come down from heaven. He says, the good shepherd calls the sheep. My sheep know my voice. They follow me. They follow after me. They hear me. He said, the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The good shepherd knows where to lead the sheep beside the still waters. He fights off the enemy. He protects them. He guides them in paths of righteousness. He lays down his life for his sheep and actually becomes the door across a sheep coat, a fold in the side of a mountain in which sheep were kept in the winter. The shepherd actually lay down across the door so that the sheep would not go out over him. They actually be, he actually becomes the door to the sheep. And so he says, you have as a believer in Christ, a relationship to Jesus as a good shepherd. And so when you go to bed at night, you don't have to count sheep. You can just talk to the shepherd. But there are three other metaphors that Jesus uses. The New Testament uses to demonstrate the relationship of Jesus to his own. Now these first three are the bride, the vine, and the flock are major Old Testament teachings about the relationship of the believer to the Lord. The second three, and there are four more, but the next set of three, and we'll look at one by itself, are only alluded to in the Old Testament. But Jesus teaches them in the New Testament. They are, first of all, a kingdom. A kingdom. Now a kingdom is a sphere of rule. And he says that when you come into relationship with Jesus Christ, you enter as a member of him, of Jesus, into a new sphere of rule, which is operated over by a king. And he, Jesus, is the king, and you and I are members of a kingdom. And it is marked by the fact that we are subject to the king who is our ruler and to whom we are his subjects. When he came in the Sermon on the Mount, he taught the rules of the kingdom. He said this is the ethical code of the kingdom. And it's adversely different from anything you've ever known before. And it all boils down to this. Love ye one another. And everything is geared around love. That's the new ethical code of the new kingdom over which Jesus Christ exists as the ruler or the king. When the angels stood on that first Judean hillside and announced the birth of Christ, they said unto you, a savior is born. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords. Listen, he shall reign on the throne of his father David as a king. Now the next metaphor that is only alluded to, but that Jesus taught distinctly, which is descriptive of the church, the believers in the New Testament, is as a family. A family. Jesus, when he began teaching that we were to pray, our Father which art in heaven, was saying something that was revolutionary, that had never been taught before that we had a personal relationship to him in romans 8 we are called sons of god in hebrews told we are all called brothers of jesus christ who is the son of god and we are taught to depend upon him matthew 6 33 says that if we seek first the kingdom of god he is responsible as a father to his child to meet all of the needs of all of his children the bible says that we have received the spirit of adoption whereby we call him abba father which literally means papa it is a warm term it is a term of endearment it is something that brings god close and means that he meets all of the needs of his children and so we see that we are translated as colossians says from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of who his dear son so now we are a king we're members of a kingdom ruled over by a king we are members of a family governed by a father and there is a new another old another new testament teaching a metaphor about the church and that is that the church is a building we're a building jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone and the bible says that in the foundation and you must not put the foundation on top we'll talk about that in weeks to come the apostles and the prophets themselves and so you are a holy family you're a holy building you are individual bricks cemented together builded together one upon top of the other and so we see that israel was god's bride israel god's flock israel god's vine but we as the church are christ's bride we are christ's vine and we are christ's flock we are his bride of whom he is the the groom we are his vine the branches of whom he is the vine we are a we are the flock of which he is the shepherd we are the building of which he is the foundation we are the family of which he is the father and we are the uh the the building and the family and the kingdom of which he is the king so you have these three old major old testament metaphors and then three minor ones which are simply alluded to but which are permanently and boldly taught by jesus christ as he explains what it means to be a believer as a part of his church in the new testament but there is a seventh one and that is the one we have just read a moment ago he also says that you as believers in jesus christ are a part of his body and you and this is the only one of the seven that is not taught anywhere else in the old testament it has no counterpart that's why paul says in romans in doing this he has done as we shall see one new thing it is a new concept it is something that has no testament root it has no other illusion it is done nowhere else you say so what so this this concept of believers cemented together by the spirit of god into a united relationship with jesus as the head this and this alone of all the seven biblical metaphors which relate the relationship of believers to jesus christ this alone is our distinctive this position in christ as members of his body is the uniqueness of our position in jesus christ when jesus was on earth he had a physical body and people could see him but jesus is not on earth he is in heaven but as the head in heaven he still has a visible body on earth that ministers to him that receives its power and grace and wisdom and strength and life from him what a pity that far too many times churches and denominations do not know whom they are do not even know whether god is let alone who jesus christ is that is the distinctive of the body of christ that is the distinctive of the christian faith It is that metaphor alone which is exclusively, uniquely distinctive to us as believers in Jesus Christ. That's why we shall give the next few Sunday mornings to a detailed study of what it means for you and I as believers to be united as the body of Christ on earth to the Lord Jesus in heaven. I want you to look at two or three things. The world, you see, lives in isolated cells and unfortunately many times so do people. And in the office where you work, in the school that you attend, you are probably the only believer that the world knows and they judge the head by you. But we are talking about the body of Christ worldwide and so the world, Buddhism, Buddhism, the secular world, the materialistic world, Shintoism, the philosophies, analogies, and ideologies of the world have images of the Christ as they look at the body on earth. But it's not possible for us to look that far because we live in one town and work on one job. And so he has ingeniously created the concept of local bodies of Christ called local New Testament churches. That's why nine out of ten times the New Testament refers to the body of Christ, the church, the ecclesia, the called out as a local body, a local New Testament assembly. That's all that the folks in Houston can assimilate. That's all they can approximate. That's all they can understand of the church. And that's all that they know of Jesus is what they see of us as a church. Now, this will take about three Sunday mornings just to discuss this part here. I want to give us an introduction into the nature of the body of Christ. What does it mean for us to be a part of the body? What is the unique distinctive of a body? Three things. I want you to remember them. And you would do well to write them down. Number one, unity. Unity. Number two, diversity. Number three, harmony. Or if you want an IT ending, mutuality. Let me say that again. Unity, diversity, mutuality, commonness, or harmony. Now, let's turn over and let's look at the first one for a few closing moments. Unity. Unity. Now, let's look down at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12. Go to the 12th verse. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12. And we are saying that there are three natures of the body of anybody, any kind of living organism. Unity, diversity, harmony. Let's look at unity just for today. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Christ's body, then, is characterized by its unity, as is anybody. Here the Apostle Paul, I think, is saying. Now, folks, you must understand that the nature of a body that makes it a body is its unity. It's oneness. Paul says, can I say to my foot, because you're just a foot. I don't need you. I'm a head. I look much better than a foot. Well, I'm a pair of beautiful eyes. I don't need you, liver. I don't need you, gizzard. We don't have gizzards, do we? Do we? I don't know if we have gizzards or not. I don't need you. I'm better than you. I'm different than you. I'm superior to you. I don't need you. And so I have a hand that's very gifted. Maybe I have two hands. And these two hands play the violin. And so I say, hands, I think I know what I'll do. I'm going to cut you off and send you around the world on a world tour. I'll tell you what, your hands won't be gifted very long. They exist only as they are incorporated into the whole body. And unless there is the unity and harmony of the body, body, life does not exist at all. We exist as a church because we exist as a unit. What a pity that people don't come to church. What a pity that you are not involved in the choir and in the mainstream and praying together and the hospital ministry and the teaching ministry and the fellowshipping ministry. We harmonize together. We exist as a unit or the world can never see anything but a crippled, disjointed, ugly body. We are not separate eyes and hands and feet. The essence of a body is its unity. Now he says, so then is Jesus Christ. Now the foot cannot exist apart from the body. The body can exist without the foot. It will be a crippled body. It cannot run like it wants to. You can't just take a body and put it together like you want to. You can't just put a couple of ears over here and put a heart down in the bottom of the foot and stick your hand up on top of your head. You can't write a book. You can't write a bicycle. You can't throw a football. You can't run an organization. You can't knit. You can't cook a meal. You can't do anything unless you function together as a unit. The unity of the body is the essence of its structure. That's why we need you, your talents, your gifts. No matter whomever you may be and wherever you are from, there is something that you contribute to this body of Christ called First Baptist Church without which we cannot function. Now we may cripple along. We'll do the best we can. We have no choice. But if you are not here, if you are not contributing, if you are not a part of the body, the body has no harmony and it has no unity. You are important to God. And you're important to the church. You're important to us. And all of the power and all of the essence flows from the head to the body. Ephesians 5 .23, that's why Paul says Christ is the head of the church. Listen to this. You ready for this? Colossians 1 .18. He is the head of the body, comma, the church. And the church cannot exist apart from the body. And when a church turns to a union of doctrine or a union of finance or a union of social action or any common bondness except Jesus Christ, it is a worthless, ugly, crippled, non -entity which is nothing more than a glorified Boy Scout meeting or Kiwanis organization. There is a distinctiveness that is a difference that is brand new, that is unknown, that is unheard of anywhere else in all the world. In the essence of the body of Christ and the dominant, hear me again, there are three, but the dominant nature of the essence of the body of Christ as a church is her unity of which Jesus is the head and the central power which gives life and coordination and meaning and direction and purpose. That's about as plain as you can make it. And yet some folks don't understand that. Some people seem to think they're the head. Sometimes I read secular writers talking about the head of the Presbyterian church or the head of the Methodist church. I know sometimes, since I came to a First Baptist church, I've been impressed with the way the secular community, the reporters and so forth, religion writers, when there's an issue, a comment, many times, most of the time, they'll call the pastor at First Baptist church, First Methodist church, assuming that I speak for Baptists, that some, by the very nature of the fact that Charles Allen is at First Methodist church, that he speaks for Methodists. Listen, nobody speaks for the church but the head, Jesus. You need to call me for the opinion, just open up Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and see what Jesus said. There it is. I don't know why we can't understand that. But, you know, there are some people who think they're the head of the church. We were taking a tour in Rome on the way to Israel not long ago. And, no, it was a different trip. I don't know where we were going. Africa. Where were we going? Israel. That's right. On the way to Israel. And we drove by a home and they said, There is the residence of the head of the church. Now, he's not the head of the church. Jesus Christ's head. All of us are one body together. Okay, look at verse 13. How do we get in this body? How do we become a part of this fellowship? For by one Spirit, capital S, Holy Spirit, are we all baptized into one. What's the baptism of the Holy Spirit? There it is right there. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit baptizing you into the body of Jesus Christ. You don't come any other way. Now the Holy Spirit does three things with us. First of all, he regenerates us in salvation. When you become a Christian, it is the Holy Spirit of God who does the regenerative process and wraps you up and saves you and implants in you a whole new nature. Secondly, he engrafts you into the body. You don't get in the body by signing a card. You don't get in the body because the pastor sprinkles holy water. You don't get in the body because somebody says you've made it, you've passed the course, you're in. Now, you are baptized into this body at conversion by Jesus Christ or you're not saved. That's what it means to be in the body. That's what it means to be saved. That's what it means to be in Jesus Christ. To have been engrafted, implanted, baptized into him by the Holy Spirit who is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Jesus himself. So, then he fills us. He fills us. If we'll let him. Listen. Verse 13. By one spirit, we're all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be slaves or free men, we have been all made to what? Drink. That means assimilate. Appropriate. Into one spirit. So he does the regenerative process. He saves us. He applies the blood of Christ to our hearts. He places us into union with our gifts, adding us to the church that needs what only we can do. And we shall determine in future weeks to come how to determine what our gifts are and use them. And no gift is greater than any other gift. They're different. They're diverse. They're not greater. They're no degrees. Then we assimilate him. He fills us. We'll let him. And he sustains us. Now look back there again at verses 12, 13. Look at how many times you use the word one. You think he's trying to emphasize unity? For as the body is one, hath many members. And all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body. In one verse and one line he has used the expression one five times. One, one, one, one, one, one. You think he intends to teach unity? I think that he does. You say, does every man possess then the Holy Spirit? You better believe it. Does every believer have the Holy Spirit? He certainly does. He may be grieved into one corner of your heart. He may not be flooding you and filling you. And he can't contribute to the body. He can't do anybody else any good unless he first fills you. But you have the Holy Spirit. By one spirit have we all been made to drink or assimilate of one spirit. All one. That's why Paul said in Romans 8 and 9, If any man hath not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And conversely, it is true that if he has the Holy Spirit, he is his. If he has his, he has the Holy Spirit. Unity is all wrapped up in the spirit. He regenerates us. He places us in the body. And he fills us. That's why Ephesians 4, 3 says we all then have the unity of the spirit. It's not a union in the denomination. It's a union in the spirit. And so we're all common. We're all one. We're all in the same spirit. We all came one way. We all came through one person. We all experienced one baptism. We all received at least one gift. We're all in one body placed there by one spirit. And so when you look, if you were to build an organizational structure of the church, you would not find a denominational hierarchy or a structure. You would find one head, Jesus, and all the rest of us inside of a great big equal circle. One, one, one. Unity. You may be rich or you may be poor. You may be black or white. You may be ignorant or educated no matter whom you may be you are as important to the function of the body equal with all believers unity as much as is anyone else oh what a pity that God is trying to build a body on earth to say to the world look here's some new thing here's what I am like here is the rest of me witnessing to the world and as soon as many people get in the church they scatter and the church has to spend the rest of its life trying to get back the scattered sheep because we cripple along having to compensate for your gifts and your talents and your contributions because you're not involved in the main stream of the body one all one there are no super saints honest folks there really aren't I don't care whether you've been saved five days and you're you're you're drunk and you're broke and you're poor and you staggered in here this morning I don't care whether you are that or whether you have been canonized as a saint all that is is somebody has been faithful in using the gifts that God gave to them in unity he doesn't talk about crippled sheep and fat sheep and skinny sheep he doesn't talk about beautiful branches and ugly branches he doesn't talk about busted bricks and whole bricks we are all one in Jesus Christ are you lonely you're insecure a young single adult you feel like you've moved to a big city nobody knows you let me tell you something you take about 15 steps down that aisle you get in Jesus you let the spirit baptize you into this body brother you're somebody you belong a man called me last night to preach from Atlanta what about a girl a divorced girl who's facing cancer surgery at MD Anderson said have you got somebody that could go minister to her I said we got some bodies that could go she's a part of us now the fact that she needs us and she's here we're all one all one because we came by one spirit through one way into one body that doesn't make any of us any better than anybody else can't say to somebody else well how'd you get it what are you doing in the body well I did 47 of these and 58 of these now you have a hundred thousand dollars look what I did I'm a super saint no it doesn't work that way it really doesn't unity by grace his grace you say through faith not of yourselves is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast what you did or who you are you got here the same way I did you got here by acknowledging you're no good worthless wretched rotten sinner maybe the president of an organization or a swinging member of the greatest country club in the world unless you get down and come the way of the old rugged cross you get into the body through repentance and cleansing through one spirit through one door through one Christ through one way through one salvation you don't get in the body all of these metaphors speak of unity do they not there's one flock one shepherd there's one bride one bridegroom there's one vineyard and there's one vine dresser there's one kingdom there's one king there's one found there's one building there's one foundation there's one family there's one father there's one bride and there's one head and there's one body and there's one head one one one one one one unity unity so discrimination's over isn't it segregation's out the window isn't it i suppose that god used martin luther king as few men to pry open society and unfortunately too many places the church then only responded to that social pressure to create what the holy spirit created two thousand years ago a body in which there are no distinctions listen the roll call of unity phesians 4 4 there is one body and one lord one spirit even as you're called in one body that's just what i was hoping for uh one lord one faith one baptism now i don't know what time it is one god one father of all who is above you all and through you all and in you all now you didn't hear that did you there is one body and one spirit one lord one faith one baptism one God who is over all and above you all and in you all and through you all. One, one, one, one, one. Unity, unity, unity. First Corinthians chapter one. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let me say this, every other subsequent morning it will be possible for me to quit it straight up 10 till 12, because it'll be one teaching which will take several weeks and we'll just stop where we are, but I can't do that today. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak of the same thing. He says, please do and talk about the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same spirit. For it has been told of me, of you, to me, of you, my brethren, by them which are the household of Chloe, Chloe's been talking again, that there are contentions among you. Contention, church splits, fights, divisions, groups meeting in the hallway, trying to plan their thing through, telephoning, business meetings, contention. God have mercy. He said, now this I say unto you. They say that some of you say, I am of Paul, another I am of Paul, another I am of Cephas, another I am of Christ. And then the church, they were, they were, they were chopping up the body. They had different ministers and different pastors and different teachers to come in and minister with them. One of them said, well, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a Cephas man myself. I follow Peter. I said, Peter, yeah, he's out. He's out. You know, uh, Paul's in. Paul's the thing. Paul, well, no, I never didn't think much of Paul. Squint -eyed, short, ugly, stuttered quite a bit. I'm a Paulist man myself. Strong, rugged, I'm a Paulist. Other fellow, you know, I'm a Christ man myself. You know, I, I, I, there's always one I never cried. Paul says, look, is Christ divided? Is one of Paul and one of Apollos and I'm for this one and I'm for that one? No, we are one in Jesus Christ. Why as in first Corinthians 321, therefore let no man glory in men. You talk about, well, I go to Brother John's church. I'm in Gerald's choir. I'm one of Harry's workers. No man. Gloria, I'm not above you. I'm not any different than you are. I have a gift. You have a gift. If I don't exercise mine, it cripples you. If you don't exercise yours, you cripple me and the whole body fails to function to do what Jesus wanted it to do in this earth. Unity. Unity. Is it whether you're a Paul, whether you're a Paulist, or a Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or present, or things to come? All are yours and you are Christ and Christ is God. He says nothing makes any difference. See, God has called us out as his Eccleto, his Ecclesia, his special called out ones. We are a whole new body, a whole new concept that has never existed anywhere in the world. It's different. It's special. It came in by one way. We have one fellowship, one mission. We're one in suffering, one in glory when my foot gets hurt. I had pleurisy once. My chest hurt real bad. I was about 12 years old. My foot jumped up and said, ha, ha, ha, I feel all right. Once I got the earache, my tooth, my tooth, my tooth was killing me. My two ears started singing. No, let me see. Let me get that through again. I had a toothache. So my two ears started singing. Na, na, na, na, na, na, so -and -so, toothache, you see. No, it didn't work that way. If my foot hurts, if there is suffering in one, I come to you. I suffer when you suffer. When you're happy, I'm happy. When you need love, I love you. When you need exhortation, I exhort you. When I need exhortation, you exhort me. When I'm, you're hurting, I cheer you up. When I'm, you're hurting, you cheer me up. When I need, you need rebuke, I'm going to rebuke you. When you need rebuke, when I need rebuke, you must rebuke me. Listen, you must. It goes for everybody but my wife. She does that anyway. Listen, if this church could ever get the concept together in sunday school in prayer meeting in church of what it means to be sensitive to and aware of each other's needs and be ministering to itself and to each other i'll tell you something would happen here that would electrify the world that's an awfully lot of what's already happening and is our distinctive uniqueness we have a long way to go you just can't isolate yourself ephesians 2 12 through 18 that at the time you were without christ being aliens from the commonwealth of israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope without god in the world but now you in christ who were sometimes that far off are made near by the blood of jesus christ galatians 3 28 there is neither jew nor greek nor is there bond nor free neither is there male nor female you are all one in christ as far as christian distinctions of superiority and the body we are not black or white or rich or poor republican or democrat or slave or free man or even man or woman we are one in paul said we're fellow citizens fellow heirs fellow partakers fellow members one one one one one let me finish with this remember when jesus was praying he could have prayed for many things but what did he pray for more than anything else in the world he was praying for our unity i want you in closing to turn over with me in your bibles to john chapter 17 please matthew mark luke john the fourth gospel chapter 17 john chapter 17 verse number 20 jesus was praying for his disciples his present believers who were physically and biologically alive on that day but he said neither do i pray just for these alone listen but for them also that which shall believe on me through their word through their witness through their testimony other believers other unborn generations that's us who would believe through their word and witness that they all may be one just be one as you and i father as thou art in me and i am thee why that they also may be one in us now please underscore this what is the purpose of this that they world may believe that thou hast sent personal witnessing and big revivals mass evangelism are very important but i think jesus christ is saying here that there is probably nothing as potent as electrifying to the world as a group of different people who are commonly unifiedly one together who function as his body as his body on earth and he says when the world sees that father they'll know who i am i came from you god and they'll love you they'll respond to me they'll believe me because they see something never been done before that's our christian uniqueness three characteristics of the body unity diversity mutuality how is the unity to be gained but i'll give you a and b under point one humility and love next sunday morning please be sure to be here let me say again jesus says that the world won't read the bible they'll read us and hear me there is so there are so many excuses that i hear unbelievers use the most consistent is the way christians live When a church has a fight, when a church splits, when a church fires a preacher, when a church has a fuma, knock -down, drag -out business, when a church fusses, and the world knows about it, Ichabod, the glory, the Lord, and either never come back, or it's never again. I've been your pastor for five years. How many times have I told you? The only thing we've really got going is our love. That intangible spirit, that's something that you can walk in on Sunday morning and pee. Deacons are appointed under God not to sit around and vote on light bulbs. The call of God for the deacon is to protect the fellowship. The call to every believer is to contribute what you can to keep division out and harmony and unity within. That kind of church is so supercharged with love and power and blessing and life from the head. That's why people drive all over Harris County to come and soak it up and feel like they belong. They do belong. You! Subsequent Sundays as I teach you how to determine what your distinct gifts are that only you can contribute. Contribute. Let 1976 be a five. I'm already dedicating that building, haven't even got the foundation done. Let 1975 be a year like you've never experienced before. And the number one priority, the exercising of your gifts, your care and love and contribution of yourself by your presence and the use of your gifts and your talents to the total harmony of the unity of this portion of the body of Christ. And it'll be the most fantastic year you've ever known. May we pray. Now, Father, as Jesus prayed for unity of his people, that they all may just be one. Just be one. Not big I and little you and important me and nobody you and white me and black you and pretty me and ugly you and... No, no, no, no. God, please. In honor and humility, preferring one another. In commonness, in love, in Jesus. Let this church begin to understand what she already has been some, or what she may and must be to fulfill God's role for her life. And that what we are positionally may be ours experientially and experientially, experimentally. Lord, Spirit of Christ, Christ, a fresh, a fresh Phyllis, thank you to hear all of us are somebody. And we need every member, every belief present exercising his gift. May the worship of the family on Sunday, as hands can't play violins stuck off by themselves. May the exercise of the gifts as the church is ministering to itself and to the world throughout the week be such a priority, a life -giving experience in our lives this year we shall indeed not again be the same in jesus name amen now please don't move what time is it really what 12 20 oh i'm sorry i'll say again the next several weeks at 10 minutes till 11 or 12 pretty close there too we'll just stop because it'll be a big long series